Merry Christmas !

Merry Christmas to all my followers and visitors - I truly appreciate the time you take to read my blog and leave all your lovely comments ! I am sorry for lack of postings of late - I have had a total hip replacement op and will be in recovery for quite a while ! However, I feel great and very blessed that all has gone well and I so look forward to celebrating Christmas with my dear family and friends!

Wishing you all a peaceful and happy Christmas and and blessings for the NewYear ! 

Much love Jane xxxx

Ornament Keepsakes Card !

Good Morning ! 
Hope your Christmas preparations are going well ? I seem better organised this year and am looking forward to getting the tree up at the weekend ! I have been having a play with a lovely stamp set which was carried over from last years Seasonal catalogue and is still available called Ornament Keepsakes . Like every crafter I am influenced and inspired by other designers work but I usually design 99% of what I do from scratch ! However , this card , which you will have seen so many times as it has been made over and over, really caught my eye so I wanted to make my own version ! Apologies - I have seen so many versions I can't acknowledge the original designer ! 

I double stamped and used dimensionals to give a shadow effect to the baubles and added lots of sparkle and bling ! I sketched in the string using a gold and silver gel pen ! The branches were stamped using the pine tree from Lovely as a Tree ! My baubles are stamped in summer starfruit , soft sky , pool party and marina mist all on whisper white card and mounted on soft sky car stock . 

I'm planning to make a star and snowflake twinkly garland today - lots of die cutting !!! 

Happy crafting - hugs Jane xx

Festive Flurry Christmas !

Good Morning ! 
Iv'e been making special Family cards and can show you this one because I know my lovely daughter doesn't read my blog !!! I have based the design on the Festive Flurry stamp set and used both the stamp and matching dies - these are so essential because no matter how much you like fussy cutting believe me there are better things in life to devote your time to !!!
I based the card on soft sky card stock with whisper white - the card is a whole sheet of A4 folded to show the lovely DSP on the inside .

I used the large snowflake and layered two together one heat embossed in white on vellum and the other stamped in clear and then enhanced with dazzling diamonds using heat and stick powder ! I love how they turned out ! It's a simple card because Rosie doesn't go for my usual shabby style - I do hope she likes it ! 

Happy Christmas crafting and thanks for stopping by !

Hugs Jane x 

This and That Season of Style !

Good Morning ! Another beautiful Autumn day - though rather chilly - perfect crafting weather ! Actually , whilst I do plan to craft today I also hope to get my Christmas cards written out and envelopes addressed because it's a job that if left nearer the time it just won't get done !!
I have the front cover of my Season of Style This and That journal to share with you today !! No decorating inside yet but a very comprehensive Christmas card list written out !! I made the front cover look like a forest snow scene - a bit tricky heat embossing on the the textured cover but achieved the look I wanted with copious amounts of dazzling diamonds !!

I used quite a lot of whisper white ink to whiten the cover - it absorbs a lot so you need to do this 3 or 4 times and let it dry well in between. Then I used the versamark refill bottle to dropper 'snowflakes' onto the card and then heat embossed with white powder and added dazzling diamonds !! My favourite Santa was stamped onto a postcard and I included that all important date !!

Hope you have enjoyed this little fun project - I'm without doubt feeling very Christmassy now !!! 

Happy crafting and thanks for stopping by ! 

Hugs Jane x

Twelve Tags of Christmas - Final Instalment !

Good Morning !!! As promised - here are the final three tags ! I have really enjoyed making these and thanks for all your lovely comments ! These three are my personal favs especially the forest of trees one which was inspired by a tag I saw on Pinterest ages ago ( apologies for not knowing the original designer ) I tried to emulate the effect by running the white ink pad over the whole tag and then stamping layers of trees in shades of green and then adding more white when it had dried. After that I stamped the trees again - I love the way it turned out but the photo doesn't really show it at it's best ! The snow is made with white embossing powder and a layer of heat and stick powder topped with dazzling diamonds ! It looks real and so twinkly !!! 

The little dove was heat embossed in pewter - it's gorgeous - it comes from the set Calm Christmas which also includes two beautiful sentiments ! By the way - when you trim out this dove and just at the last moment the foliage drops off - don't fret - just replace it with a piece punched from the bird builder punch - no one will notice !!! 

Happy crafting ! 

Hugs Jane xxx

Twelve Tags of Christmas - Part 3 !

Good Morning ! It's such a beautiful Autumn day here in sunny Worcestershire - I woke up to the sound of my OH scrapping all the ice off the car !!! I have three more tags for Christmas to share with you today  (last three to follow tomorrow) - one features a stamp set from the main catalogue Beautifully Baroque which one of my ladies pointed out looked very like a bauble - so I made it into one ! The December 25th tag uses the Morning Post Numbers stamp set and the roses tag is trimmed with the lovely cherry cobbler grosgrain ribbon from the Seasonal catalogue . 

Last one to make now and then onto something on a bigger scale ! Thank you so much for your visit and enjoy your own Christmas crafting !

Hugs Jane xx 

Winter Frost Banner !

Good Morning ! I have another banner to share with you today in an alternative colour scheme - I used the gorgeous DSP Winter Frost as a base for the design and the canvas paper pennants . This one is smaller and made especially for my daughters room which is all blues !!! 

Lots to do today - planning to decorate the cover of my Christmas this and that journal , make more Christmas cards and finish off my twelve tags for Christmas !!!

Many thanks for stopping by ! 

Hugs Jane xx

Twelve Tags of Christmas - Part 2 !

Hello ! As promised here is part two of my tags for Christmas collection ! These are great fun to make and are quite a challenge - firstly  to use all the Christmas stash that I own from Stampin' Up and secondly to use non Christmas stash and make it Christmassy !!! My little tree was stamped using Special Season to get the shape and then I overstamped using the little pine branch from Lovely as a Tree to make it look really full ! I have gone a little over the top with the bling but it is Christmas !!!

I have some thin vintage tinsel and thought I would add a little for extra sparkle ! Here is a close up of my snowflake with a frosted finishes embellishment at the centre ! 

Thanks for stopping by for a visit - Happy Christmas crafting ! 

Hugs Jane x

Twelve Tags of Christmas SU Style !

Hello ! I've been creating some tags for Christmas - I have always planned to do the twelve tags of Christmas every year and never achieved it but this year is different - I am setting goals and getting there and these tags will be done !!! So, here are the first three all based on a well vintaged vanilla card tag ( these are proper parcel tags purchased from an old fashioned stationers and they come in packs of 50 !). I have used old olive and summer starfruit to lift the colour scheme and added cherry cobbler and raspberry ripple with the odd pop of primrose petals ! The edges were sponged with crumb cake ! 

More to come very soon : the idea is to use these as a banner ( all strung together ) or as tree decorations ! They can also be use to embellish a special gift ! The mini envelope was made by trial and error using the punchboard - you don't need to be a maths genius - get someone who is to work the measurements out for you !! LOL ! You need to scale down from the smallest measurement on the board - mine was made from a piece of DSP 3 1/2inches square and scored at 1 1/2 inches - simple !

Happy Christmas crafting ! 

Hugs Jane x

Northern Flurry Christmas !

Good Morning ! The house is full of my favourite Christmas music nowadays because it helps me be get in the mood for making Christmas cards and projects !!! The weather here has just been so mild and it's hard to believe that we are into November already ! I have an A5 card for you today - all neutrals with a bit of seasonal bling ! 

The card stock is very vanilla and the DSP Modern Medley with a pop of the glitter card in silver. I combined Calm Christmas with Festive Flurry and edged my project with the little pine cone branch from Lovely as a Tree. My inks are crumb cake and smokey slate and I finished off the star with a vintage faceted button and silver 1/8 inch ribbon - some basic rhinestones added sparkle to the embossed card ( Northern Flurry embossing folder ). 

Thank you so much for your visit ! 

Hugs Jane x

Special Season Card !

Hello ! Continuing my alternative colour theme I have a small card for you today stamped using Special Season - a lovely set with a gorgeous traditional tree and some nice sentiments. I've teamed it with Festive Flurry and some soft sky seam binding ribbon and seasonal bling for a little twinkle ! 

Bookings for Christmas craft classes are now being taken - they include a banner class, Cards ( of course ) , The Twelve Tags of Christmas SU style and home decor ! More info to come - watch this space !!! Until then happy Christmas crafting !! 

Hugs Jane xx

Christmas Gift Vouchers !

Good Morning ! It's that time of year when we are all slowly preparing for the Christmas Season in the hope that we don't leave everything to the last minute ! But what exactly do you give the girl who has everything - why , Stampin' Up Christmas vouchers of course so that in the New Year when all the fun of the season has gone and a bleak January has set in she can sit down with her SU catalogue and cheer herself up with a treat of some crafting goodies !! One of my customers requested these so I set to work making some cute little vouchers and gift cards - thank goodness for MDS ( My Digital Studio ! ). I've detailed all the info in the following photos - they are available for any amount with no expiry date ! To purchase please contact me directly ( see the email link --> right ) ! 

The vouchers come in a hand stamped and embellished envelope and include a gift card for you to write a special message for the recipient ! These are my Christmas vouchers but are also available in the design shown below for birthday gifts etc . I also do vouchers for classes too - they are £10 and £15 and again come with envelope and gift card ! 

Envelope designs may vary slightly and I require a few days notice to put the package together - payment on receipt. 

If you have any queries please message me - thank for your visit !! 

Hugs Jane xx

Postcard Christmas !

Hello ! Continuing the Christmas theme I have been playing with some other colours as an alternative to red and green and settled on a mix of soft sky , crumb cake and soft suede I also like to get value out of the money I invest in my stamp sets so like to raid the non - Christmas sets and add them to the mix - I've used En Francais and the Postcard stamps as they make great backgrounds ! 

The snowflake is double layered and embossed in soft sky and I have used a mix of three Christmas stamp sets from the Seasonal catalogue - Santa's List , Festive Flurry and Special Season . I love the sentiment from the last stamp set - it sums up the kind of Christmas I wish for my friends and family !

I am working on more cards - some of which which form a Christmas card workshop - so do come back and have a look ! 

Until then - happy crafting ! Hugs Jane xxx 

Simply Created Christmas Banner !

Hello ! I haven't disappeared - I had an argument with a coat hanger a couple of weeks ago and injured my right eye !! It has been really hard to craft because I am not allowed to lean my head forward as the eye has to heal !!Silly me !!! Anyway , I have started slowly to do a bit at a time and have created a banner from the gorgeous canvas paper pennants available from the Seasonal Catalogue ! It has been slow progress and will be for the foreseeable future and I have really missed my crafting ! I added in some Season of Style DSP - made into pleated rosettes and some sewn bows made from Cherry Cobbler grosgrain ribbon. The first thing I did was to stamp all the backgrounds in Crumb cake ink using En Francais - my favourite background stamp ! 

I sponged the pennant edges and stamped out lots of Festive Flurry snowflakes and die cut silver glitter card and layered them up with the rosettes and some doilies ! Some bling and gorgeous Frosted Finishes Embellishments completed the project ! 

Thank you so much for your visit and happy crafting ! 

Hugs Jane xx